Crystal Bowersox - Idol in the making

I'll confess a couple of things, up front. One, I'm a sucker for a good chick singer, especially one that can write her own stuff as well as interpret the work of other artists and add something to it. Second, since I can't stand Simon Cowell, I don't watch American Idol. I had no idea that she was the runner-up on season 9. I first came to notice Crystal Bowersox in the commercial she and B.B. King did for some glucosimeter. I noticed that because I'm diabetic, so things like that catch my eye, especially when there's a good looking woman with a guitar involved. I meant to check her out, but it took me until yesterday to do so. (If you are interested in her response to the whole Idol journey, check out her video diary at http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_9/crystal_bowersox/crystal_bowersoxs_idol_journey/) Had I known how good she was, and how much I was going to enjoy her music, I might have overcome my feelings for Simon and watched and voted for her.

Like just about everyone who sings or plays an instrument, Crystal has a website so I checked that out. Nice. http://www.crystalbowersox.com/home/ Looking around for more of her, I came upon the CMT site I've chosen to introduce those that don't know her.   http://www.cmt.com/videos/crystal-bowersox/642441/for-what-its-worth-live.jhtml?artist=3803308 There are five videos here, and, yes, there are short commercials, but the quality of the material is worth putting up with some stuff. The live tracks with her bass player and long-time friend Frankie May are especially good.

Here's a sample of her music from You Tube: 

I said I didn't want this to be a political blog, so this is a look at a bit of my musical taste. Like I said, I'm a sucker for female vocalists. When I was in Miami with friends in the summer of 1965, I met a young woman while shooting pool in a bar in Coconut Grove. She was  a local, more of less, having come down from the Tampa area. I found out she was a musician and things went from there. She was good, needed a ride up to New York and we started the trip in her black '53 Ford, with windows that didn't all work and what turned out to be a short life. Her name was Nancy and she was a pretty damn good singer, with a style that was familiar but her own. Her guitar playing was simple, but worked well to accompany her singing. Long story short, we were an item, I got her some exposure, she took off for Philadelphia and we weren't an item any more. I have fond memories of that summer, which began with the trip to Miami, a lot of music, new friends, old friends, a great singer and an interesting relationship and ended with my draft notice. But, hey, that's a whole other story for another time.

Enjoy Crystal Bowersox, why don't ya?